All posts filed under: faith

Originally posted on BeautyBeyondBones: I don’t know about you, but sometimes, I wish I could “un-know” things. You know what I mean? Like, I wish I didn’t know some of the things I do. I wish I could un-learn them. Un-see them. Like Justin Timberlake with cornrows. Or the girl from the movie, The Ring. That disturbing image will forever be seared into my brain. And, this is coming from the girl who was terrified of scary movies, and would “watch” those flicks from behind a pillow when my friends would insist on watching them. Or if you walk in on your parents “doing it.” Not that that’s ever happened to me. But so I’ve heard. I did walk in on my friend’s dad pooping….that was pretty scarring. Never went over to that house again, that’s for dang sure. But all jokes aside, there are things that I just wish I didn’t have knowledge about. I witnessed the little 7-year-old girl I nanny for “learn” one of those things today. We’ll call her Cindy. I was with Cindy and her friend,…

I feel like my spiritual journey can best be described like Goldilocks. A girl wanders through the metaphorical woods and tries out all these different religions. I’m still trying to find the one that is “just right.” I grew up Christian. I was never inundated with religion at home, but I went to a nice little Methodist church all through my formative years. I was active in the youth group and went on several mission trips. I stopped going to church when the pastor changed. The new pastor was a bit too preachy and conservative for my taste. I tried to find another church I liked, but I couldn’t. So for the next two years or so, I clung to the ideas of Christianity without a community. I could best be described as a progressive liberal Christian back then. I have a scientific mind and was working on an anthropology degree. I have been an evolutionist since my early teens, and I’ve always supported people’s right to live the life they want. As I started …

Originally posted on Michelle Leigh Writes: The holiday season is in full gear. As we have already passed Halloween, and Thanksgiving. Christmas is just around the corner. And I have to say that I’m still slightly in disbelief at how quickly its come, yet again. As I get older, I’ve realized something. Time speeds by, each year it gets quicker and quicker. Everything becomes stressful and timed, and we make it more commercial then spiritual and magical like it should be. I remember when I was a kid, I used to get so excited when Christmas was near. It was my favorite time of year. I remember decorating the tree with my family and playing Christmas songs as early as October, sometimes even in the summer time because I was just so infatuated. Now it seems as though no one has time for anything anymore. No time to decorate, or shop, or be festive. Everything is like warp speed and before we even get to Thanksgiving they are already shoving Christmas down our throats. Stores commercialize…

Originally posted on Enigma: Just because I suddenly have this self belief, the belief that I won’t fail at life, that I am headed for something great, Just because I have faith in Allah, Doesn’t make me a pretentious bitch, it does not make me full of myself. So you’re telling me it’s better for me to doubt every move I make? Every word I write? You’re telling me it’s better for me to cry myself to sleep because I hate the way I look, and I’d rather be prettier, skinnier, better? Really? Just because I now think that I can change the world, that I will become published, that I will not let them bring me down, Just because I now see the beauty of my religion, the beauty in myself, in the world, It makes me full of myself?! Just because I now have this self-respect, the right to say what I’m thinking, it makes me big-headed?! My hijaab and my words, my poetry and my tears, What are they worth to you?